Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr A. Gasymova / Russia' offer to the US to use Azerbaijan's Gabala radar station instead of positioning a missile shield in Europe will be considered by the United States, according to the US Embassy in Azerbaijan.
Russian Foreign Ministry stated on 23 August that the condition for Russia's offer to materialise is US's refusal to deploy its anti-missile system in Europe and place anti-missile facilities in space.
Russia making the offer shows that it admits the possibility of threats from Iran, a representative of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, Jonathan Henick, said. "The US and Russia will consider a range of proposals and new options for exploitation of Gabala radar station," Henick said to Trend on 24 August.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that Azerbaijan could give permission to utilize its radar station on profitable terms. Agreements between the Us and Russia have been made and Azerbaijan will in turn be involved to give its permission for use of the station, an official of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Khazar Ibrahim, said.
Speaking of the possible refusal to place the missile shield in Europe, Henick noted that Condoleezza Rice and other US officials had stated several times that the US has intentions to continue its plans on the deployment of a missile shield in Europe.
"The US believes Russia's offer to be very interesting and that shows that Russia has eventually begun cooperation with the United States," he said. According to him, the two countries have to consider the proposal and discuss other options and opportunities. "The negotiations on Gabala radar station will continue," Henick added.
Within the framework of the G-8 summit on 7 June 2007, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, offered US joint exploitation of Gabala Radar Station. He noted the advantage of deployment of Anti-Missile Defence (AMD) elements in Azerbaijan rather in Poland and the Czech Republic. Putin indicated that Gabala Radar Station will enable detection and crack down on rival missiles in the first section of boost trajectory. The remains of the missiles will fall not on European cities but into the sea, which is of great importance, Putin stressed. Later Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Putin's offer did not imply Iran has nuclear weapons.